This invention generally concerns a pillow preferably comprised of resilient material, and a method of use for same, and more particularly concerns a pillow for inducing an amount of traction in a user, and a related method of establishing such traction.
The neck or cervical region of a person has a natural, i.e. normal, curvature, which is generally concave towards the back of the person. Conventional traction techniques, such as may be used with patients in a hospital setting or others undergoing treatment, involves immobilization of a selected limb or region of a patient, usually by application of a continuous stretching force to the selected limb or region (sometimes involving the entire body). Whenever such traction involves the cervical (i.e. neck) region of a patient, the natural or normal curvature of such region is often lost or distorted to a certain degree. In other words, the neck region tends to be flattened out. Application of any degree of loading (i.e. traction) to the cervical region while it is in a position other than its normal curvature can in the best case be uncomfortable for the patient, and in the worst case actually cause or aggravate injuries in the cervical region.
Use of traction for a patient can be indicated for a variety of reasons. One typical scenario in which traction might be applied is whenever a patient experiences muscle spasms in the back or neck. The spasms might be treated with various amounts of therapeutic traction, drug therapies, and/or various combinations of both such therapies.
Therapeutic benefit from traction, in the context intended herewith, means as ordinarily accepted that the amount of traction must be adequate to actually physically separate the intra-vertebral positions, which is therapeutic in the sense that it tends to relieve pressure on individual vertebra. However, traction can have more general beneficial effects on a patient when used in degrees less than that achieving such intra-vertebral separation. Such so-called "soft" traction (i.e. less than a "therapeutic" amount) may, for example, benefit a patient by psychologically immobilizing the patient achieve desired bed rest. A relatively light physical force is also provided in association with desired patient placement.
Another benefit of such soft traction is its potential to be achieved with less imposing machinery or mechanisms than heretofore used for extensive traction setups. Hence, particularly in a hospital setting, soft traction may be perceived by the patient as having greater aesthetic appeal, that is as being more user-friendly, further contributing to beneficial relaxation and bed rest for the patient. The cost of providing soft traction may also be significantly lower.
Yet another factor which may contribute to the degree of relaxation experienced by a patient, and the degree of comfort of the patient (particularly when concerning relatively extended periods of bed rest) is the relative dispersion of pressure between the patient and support surfaces thereof. In general, the greater the dispersion of pressure, the greater the degree of comfort for the patient, even to the point of reducing the incidence of decubitus ulcers, also known as bed sores.
Also, due to their cost and weight, conventional full-scale traction set-ups do not lend themselves to portability nor in-home use. Furthermore, unlimited use of conventional traction in the hands of a non-professional health care provider could prove injurious to the user.